Hello from another glorious last-days-of-Summer New York. * Alejandro Gonzelez Innaritu’s Birdman is opening the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday, with many of the critics who’ve already seen it calling the movie a “tour de force cinema” and “a triumph on every level.” I’m even more excited now than before to see the movie, shot by Gravity‘s Oscar-winning Emmanuel Lubezki, starring Michael Keaton in the lead role as a washed-up superhero looking to revive his career. The fest continues for the next few days, before it’s Toronto’s turn to showcase the latest slate of anticipated films. * Oh, the envy! Kate Bush kicked off the first of her limited run, rare tour, Before the Dawn,…

Hello from NYC – where tickets to Kenneth Branagh’s Macbeth at the Park Ave Armory are going for a steal on Stubhub at just $1400. * Her debut album may have moved 7 million copies worldwide, but Lana Del Rey earned more than her fair share of criticism. No matter, because she stuck it out and releases her third album today – one she worked on with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach (that guy is everywhere!) With a title inspired by A Clockwork Orange, Ultraviolence has been earning itself positive reviews so far – and for good reason. * If you were wondering what Steven Spielberg would be doing next (as one does), his latest projects have been…

Hello! Back in New York, after an in-out visit to the UK where Spring feels much more on its way… * The weekend box office results show that Divergent raked in most of the movie-going share, while the Muppets, sadly, did not. * By the end of this week, tickets will go on sale for Kate Bush‘ return to the stage. The ethereal singer of whimsical delights such as Wuthering Heights has not toured in 35 years, and the news, understandably, has the British press – and her legions of fans, myself included, very giddy. * This weekend Lady Gaga shared with the world her longest music video to date. The…

“The time has come to put art before pop,” Lady Gaga declared, in a huge warehouse in Brooklyn on Sunday evening. This was after she had just climbed into a flying dress – the first in the world, it appears – and before she performed in front of a giant Jeff Koons sculpture in her likeness. It was all to announce to the world her intentions with this, her third album, titled ARTPOP. “We joke that it’s a hobby, but it’s actually not,” she said at a press conference. “I love nurturing the talents of young people.” The idea behind the flying dress, which lifted a few feet off the…

New York has a new mayor – welcome to office, Mayor De Blasio! Meanwhile, on the entertainment front, we have new songs to hear… * After a global fan event for The Hobbit 2, a new trailer has been released – and with it, a new single from Ed Sheeran, who seems ever so destined to have recorded a song for the film, called I See Fire. Not surprising to learn, the singer played all the instruments on the track, including the violin, which he learnt to play for a day. * 19 films have been submitted to the Academy Awards for the animated feature film category. The films hoping to…